This is unbelievable footage of my family in 1959. It was filmed by my father at age 14. He became a professional photographer/videographer, and so did I.

This contains my dear Grandmother, Grand Father, Father, Great Grandmother and Great Uncles (visiting from Rhode Island). They are mostly on Belle Isle in Detroit. Its priceless.

I wonder sometimes about reviews on this site. For this "home movie" I even wonder about the label "African American Family." If you watch this film closely, you will notice this is an integrated family. There is an older caucasian woman at the beginning, and what might be her husband and maybe a daughter. In other words, this is an American family. The placement of "African" sets the family into a nice American racial category, but the people in these clips might just as well be tagged as "Americans in Detroit and New York." Also, although this is not a "professional" film, the filmmaker uses a hand-held camera and still manages to frame his (or her I suppose) subjects quite well. Many shots have subjects walking from screen right to screen left. This seems to be a favored direction of the film maker. The film of boats on a river at one point is obviously edited, splicing in two shots of two different boats so cleverly it is almost not noticeable. The just over 10 minute film opens with a shot of a helicopter by the Empire State Building and ends with a shot of another helicopter in descent. A delightful "home movie" that captures the perspective of a film maker, her or his relatives, and the period of 50 years ago. Even as a record of the clothes worn at this time, this is a wonderful film.

An african american family visit New York. Not much to see, they see the sights, walk around, and so on. Extended boating sequence at the end.